Chapter 22: The Return
Thirty three years after leaving Australia, with the tumult of 1966 long behind him, Jørn Utzon once again signed a contract with the New South Wales Government and re-engaged with Sydney Opera House.
In the three decades since Utzon's departure, Sydney Opera House had been host to tens of thousands of performances and millions of visitors. It had become the most recognised and esteemed symbol of Sydney and part of its identity as well as the nation's. Its cultural and architectural value was beyond doubt.
But as the millennium approached, conservation and continuity of the Opera House were the foremost considerations of The Sydney Opera House Trust and the Carr Government.
Premier Bob Carr wrote to Utzon on the 25 October 1998, asking the architect to consider establishing a set of design principles that could be used to continue his vision for the building in centuries to come. These principles would be employed as a guide for future architects and designers to maintain and renew the building. Utzon agreed.
While he saw no need to return to Australia, Utzon swiftly set about updating aspects of the building with the help of his son Jan. At the same time the prominent Sydney architect Richard Johnson was engaged to work with the Utzons and to develop a Venue Improvement Plan .
On publication of the Design Principles in 2002, the Carr Government committed $69 million to the refurbishment plan. This included the creation of the first interior space fully realised to Jørn Utzon's specifications. The room celebrates the form of the concourse beams which define the ceiling, and its Southern wall is glass, overlooking the harbour. The North wall is dominated by a tapestry designed by Utzon, inspired by the music of Bach and Raphael's painting, "Procession to Cavalry".
These elements of the Utzon Room characterise three ideas which, though fundamental to Utzon's architectural vision for the Opera House, had been compromised in realising Sydney Opera House.
Firstly, honesty of form, and the beautiful expression of function were integral to Utzon's approach. He strove constantly to manifest these values in his own work as well as that of others. Two aspects of the project particularly exemplify this Ove Arup's concourse beams, which so impressed Utzon early in their working relationship, and Yuzo Mikami's faceted roof design for the major hall interpreted from Utzon's description of beech leaves in the forest surrounding Hellebk.
Secondly, the pivotal role of the harbour itself; when Utzon first learned of the competition, he pored over nautical maps to assess and visualise the exceptional location of Bennelong Point, its centrality to the harbour area and its suitability for a beautiful sculptural expression. Just like Helsingr Castle, the opera house would come to define its environment.
And thirdly, the idea of procession, which Utzon believed should be central to the experience of Sydney Opera House, with a grand staircase leading up through the podium toward the performances. It is this idea which is dominant in the abstract mural as inspired by Raphael's painting.
The artist, designer, philosopher and architect in Utzon are all, in understated ways, represented in the Utzon Room.
With the help of his son Jan, Jørn Utzon also developed The Colonnade, which opens the three theatre spaces out onto the harbour, on the north side of the broadwalk.
In 2003, Utzon was awarded the Pritzker Prize, the world's most prestigious architectural award. The judges recognised Sydney Opera House as "a masterpiece Jørn Utzon's masterpiece", and went on to say, "Like most great works of art that achieve wide popularity its appeal is visceral and optical more than cerebral. A sublime flower with primitive roots, it is one of very few twentieth-century buildings to be measured against the achievements of past civilisations."
Four years later, in 2007, World Heritage Listing was awarded to Sydney Opera House.
Jørn Utzon died on 29 November 2008, at the age of ninety. His son, Jan, wrote on behalf of the family, that in his long and full life: "Nothing escaped his keen eye. He observed the world around him with extraordinary clearness. From all these sources of inspiration, be it the pyramids of Mexico, the temple compounds of China, the half-timbered farms of Denmark, the branch of a tree, the leaf on a flower, a stone from the beach, the pattern in the snow, the slant of the sunlight, from music, sculpture, paintings and the humanistic thinking by great philosophers, he created a world of his own, a legacy of great and modest buildings that are ours to enjoy, far beyond his lifetime."
This has been the story of a remarkable and unlikely series of events which led to the creation of one of the greatest buildings of the twentieth century; a building which, through a union of geometry and ancient ideal, transcends the style of its time, leaving a lasting impact on all who experience it.
It is a shrine to the arts, music and the stories of the world, and evokes a time when the nation began to assert its modern cultural identity.
Much was asked of and given by the many who worked towards the building of Sydney Opera House. Yet the building's originality and unique identity will always be recognised as the lasting and marvellous legacy of one man - Jørn Oberg Utzon.
